Safety chair for airplanes



p 1936- A. B. SCOTT ET AL SAFETY CHAIR FOR AIRPLANES Filed Au 9 1935BNVENTORS ATTORNEY5 Patented Sept. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES SAFETY CHAIRFOR AIRPLANES Albert B. Scott and Edmund Gouldlng, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application August 9, 1935, Serial No. 35,481

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a safety chair for airplanes. While travelingon an airplane, passengers sometimes experience difficulty inmaintaining themselves comfortably in their seats due to irregularmovements of the airplane. Such seats are usually provided withcushions, but are not so constructed as to enable the cushions tomaintain the passenger comfortably in the chair so as to prevent hismoving about in the chair when sudden, irregular movements of theairplane occur.

The general object of this invention is to provide a seat or chair foran airplane, which is so constructed that a yielding cushion is providedat each side of the thighs of the passenger in the seat or chair, andlocated at each side; also to construct the cushions in such a way thatthey will yieldingly engage the thighs of the person in the chair, andin such a way as to 20 assist in retaining him on the seat of the chair,as well as tending to prevent lateral movements of the passenger in thechair.

A further object of the invention is to provide a chair with pneumaticside cushions capable of being inflated, and operating to engage againstthe thighs and partially over the upper sides of the thighs of a personseated in the chair; also to provide means for increasing the yieldingresiliency of the side cushions when the passenger in the chair attemptsto move laterally in either direction against one of the cushions.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to bedescribed hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an eflicientsafety chair for airplanes.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the followingspecification, while 40 the broad scope of the invention is pointed outin the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation in partial section through a chairembodying our invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the chair illustrated in Fig. 1, andillustrating the outline of the side cushions when they are engaging thesides of the thighs, and partially projecting over the same to maintainthe passenger comfortably and yieldingly in the chair.

Fig. 3 is a plan of the chair illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, andillustrating in dotted lines an arrangement of piping for supplying thecushions of the chair with air under pressure, to maintain them in theirinflated condition.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the upper portion of one of theside cushions in a collapsed condition.

While our improvement may be embodied in the construction of any seat orbench, in the 5 present specification the invention "is illustrated asapplied to a chair having a frame I of any suitable form, and this framepreferably includes side arms 2 and a back 3 extending-upwardly in arcarwardly inclined direction.v The frame i preferably supports a seat 4of heavy. fabric or similar material on which the seat .cushion 5 isplaced, said seat cushion being preferably in the form of a pneumaticcushion. -.The back 3 of the chair is also preferably provided with apneumaticcushion 6. a

Supported in the frame and preferably under the side arms 2, we providetwo pneumatic side cushions l and 8. These side cushions are ofconsiderable size, and when a passenger is sitting on the seat, they areinflated-with air to such an extent as will enable the inner faces 9 ofthe cushions to engage the sides of the thighs of the person on theseat, and the cushions have considerably more depth in a generalvertical direction than the thighs, so that the upper portion of theinflated cushion at each side develops a bulge l0 that projects more orless over the upper side of the adjacent thigh. The seat cushion 5 andthe back'li are preferably inflated with air, and maintained at aconstant condition of inflation. But the cushions 1 and 8 are suppliedwith air whenever necessary, to insure that they will engage flrmly withthe sides of the thighs and bulge over them in the manner illustrated inFig. 2. By reason of the fact that these side cushions 1 and 8 arepreferably capable of this very considerable expansion, they are capableof engaging the thighs of persons of different sizes, and the degree ofinflation in practice would be adapted to the size of the person seatedin the chair. In other words, the pressure of the cushions against thethighs and over the thighs, would be such as would maintain thepassenger held comfortably but yieldingly on the seat. At the same time,it would be evident that if a sudden turn of the airplane tends to causea shifting of a passenger toward either of the cushions, this cushioncan yield so as to resist the momentum of the passenger in thatdirection without giving him any discomfort.

In order to increase the yielding nature of the pressure of the sidecushions l and l, we prefer to have these two side cushions l and Iconnected together by a tube or hose ll indicated in dotted lines inFig. 3. This hose or tube H is always open so that if the pressureagainst one of the cushions is unusually great, the air can flow fromthis cushion over to the opposite cushion. The small diameter of thistube would, of course, influence the action of the cushions in thisrespect, If a stiffer and yet less yielding action of the cushions isdesired, the diameter inlet hose l5, and this hose is provided with avalve IQ for confining the air in the reservoir. Thishose or inlet pipei5 may also be provided with pipe connections I! and i8, respectively,carrying valves is for controlling admission of air to the back cushions5 and to the seat cushion- 5. I

There: is also a pipe connection 20 which may lead from-the inlet pipei5 to the cross pipe ll that connects the-side cushions, and thisconnection 20 shouldcarry avalve 2| for regulating the admission ofairto the side cushions.

The seat cushion 5 and the back cushion 6 may consist of rubber bagsinflatable in covers of any suitable cloth, which will limit theirexpansion and give shape to the inflated bag within the'sama:

Thev side cushions as illustrated in Fig. 5, preferably comprise aninner bag 22 of rubber or similar material, which will retain the air,

and this bag is mounted in an expansible cover 23 which is preferablyformed of any suitable cloth, which is capable of stretchingconsiderably, and which will not unduly limit the expansion of the sidecushions 'l and 8 in performing, their functions properly, asillustrated in Fig. 2. It is understood that the embodiment of the'invention described herein is only one of the many embodiments thisinvention may take, and

we do not wish to be limited in the practice of the invention, nor inthe claims, to the particular *embodiment set forth.

What we claim is:

1. In a chair of the kind described, the combination of a frame, a seatsupported thereby, a pneumatic cushion located at each side of the seatand operating to engage the thighs of a person sitting in the seat, saidcushions having means for inflating the same at will to differentextent, said cushions operating to maintain themselves in contact withthe person's thighs, and cooperating to hold the occupant of the chairyieldingly in position in the seat.

2. In a chair of the kind described, the combination of a frame, a seatsupported thereby, a pneumatic cushion located at each side of the seatand operating to engage the thighs of a person sitting in the seat, saidcushions being of greater depth in a general vertical direction than thethighs, and having means for inflating the same at will, said cushionsoperating so that the upper portions of the cushions project over theupper sides of the thighs, of a person seated in the chair.

v 3. In a chair of the kind described, the combination of a frame, aseat supported thereby, a pneumatic cushion located at each side of theseat and operating to engage the thighs of a person sitting in the seat,said cushion being of greater depth in a general vertical direction thanthethighs, and having means for inflating the same at will, to cause theupper portions of the cushion to project over the upper portions of thethighs, and means for maintaining communication between the saidcushions so that if the seated person shifts laterally in the chair, airmay flow freely to and fro between the said cushions.

4. In a chair of the kind described, the combination of a frame, apneumatic seat supported on the frame, a pneumatic cushion located ateach side of the seat and operating to engage and press the thighs of aperson sitting in the seat by reason of the pneumatic pressure withinthe cushion, a tube connecting the said cushions and maintained in anopen condition between the cushions so that air can flow to and frobetween the same, said tube having means for admitting air thereto.

EDMUND GOULDING. ALBERT B. SCOTT.

